The Australian Food and Grocery Council last night expressed their disappointment with Australia’s largest supermarket chain over what they perceive to be an unfair shifting of blame to manufacturers for rising food prices. Australia’s leading representative of food and grocery manufacturers was upset by comments made by Woolworths Chief Executive Michael Luscombe on radio yesterday morning. Mr Luscombe told ABC Radio National that questions about food inflation were best answered by... ...Read more »

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission proposes to allow the Transport Workers Union of Australia SA/NT Branch to represent South Australian milk vendors in contract negotiations with dairy processors National Foods and Parmalat. Under the ACCC’s proposed decision, the TWU would bargain collectively* on behalf of vendors. The vendors buy milk from the processors to sell to shops and home-delivery customers or deliver it to major retailers, such as supermarket chains, for a fee from... ...Read more »

Kirin Holdings is planning to commit to a merger with Suntory in the near future in a bid to become the leading player in the food and beverage sectors in Asia and Oceania, according to a report published today. “We aim to be a leading company in Asia and Oceania,” Kirin Holdings Co. president Kazuyasu Kato told the Nikkei economic daily. “We’ll bolster our business strength and accelerate our expansion in overseas growth markets” by integrating operations with Suntory... ...Read more »

News of Wal-Mart’s latest sustainability push may have been lost amidst news of swine flu and economic recovery here in Australia, but their decision is likely have a major impact on the food and grocery sector around the world. Eco-labels For the last couple of years there has been talk of so-called ‘eco-labels’, which would highlight the environmental impact of each product on the grocery shelf. The notion has had its detractors, who point to issues of measurement, testing and... ...Read more »

A pioneering business community initiative is on-track to achieve major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from four of the Castelmaine’s largest businesses by 2010. CSIRO has discovered that smallgoods manufacturer, Don KRC, could reduce its greenhouse gas emissions while doubling production capacity; a key finding that could be beneficial to food producers across the country. Cited as a case study in the Garnaut Climate Change Review, the Maine’s Power project partnered CSIRO, local... ...Read more »

The heavy discounting on petrol instigated last week by Coles has been cleared by the competition watchdog. In a move that was criticised by consumer group choice and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, Coles offered 40 cents/litre off for people who spent $300 or more at the supermarkets, with the discounts scaled back below this outlay. Woolworths and Metcash soon followed with a replication of the Coles offer. Mr Xenophon called for an ACCC enquiry, believing such a move would destroy independent... ...Read more »

Baby boomers are shifting their grocery purchase patterns as they approach retirement age, according to new research from the US where – like Australia – baby boomers represent a significant proportion of the population. The latest IRI research, “Baby Boomers II: Preparing for the Upcoming Wave of Aging Shopper Growth,” examines the broad range of baby boomer lifestyle changes and identifies top-indexing food and non-food categories, recession-driven shopping patterns and... ...Read more »

Food and beverage giant PepsiCo has seen revenues fall by three per cent in the second quarter as the North American beverage market failed to emerge from its slumber. Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said the company had been shielded from the full impact of the global recession by its expansion into emerging markets. “Our results this quarter reinforce the advantages of our balanced portfolio, as our food and international businesses delivered solid performance while... ...Read more »

Cadbury has won compensation from packaging heavyweight Amcor for allegedly paying higher prices as a result of Amcor’s four year cartel arrangement with Visy. Beyond their reputation, it is the first time Amcor has received punishment for the collusion with Visy that cost Visy Chairman Richard Pratt $36 million. However, they have managed to avoid a potentially long court case, with an out-of-court settlement likely to be significantly below the $235.8 million sought by the chocolate maker. Amcor... ...Read more »

The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has today announced the category winners for the industry’s top honour – Australian Retailer of the Year. Discount grocer Aldi, which has made rapid strides forward over the past year, claimed the food, drink and grocery category, while sandwich franchise Subway took out the restaurants, cafés and takeaway category. The two food industry representatives will vie for the national award with Country Road (clothing and footwear) and L’Occitane... ...Read more »